Department’s power upheld by court
The unanimous judgment by the court is significant as it is the first time such powers bestowed by the 1998 Education Act have been tested at such a high level. More than 40% of the 1,256 appeals heard under section 29 of the act between 2001 and the end of last year, against school decisions to expel, suspend or refuse enrol students, have been successful.
The case arose after the parents of two children who were refused enrolment in February 2008 by St Molaga’s National School in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, took a section 29 appeal. The appeals committee appointed by the department ruled the school should accept the children who were aged nine and 10 at the time.
The school had claimed it was already over capacity and it had refused 40 other applications for that reason since the previous September.
Around the same period, the department had been under significant pressure to find school places to match a sudden rise in pupil numbers in the Balbriggan area of north Co Dublin, where a number of new primary schools have since been opened.
The school’s application for a judicial review of the case was successful last year when the High Court ruled the Education Act did not allow a Department of Education appeals committee to reverse a school board’s decision.
But that outcome was further appealed by the committee to the Supreme Court. In the judgment in favour of the Department of Education, Ms Justice Denham said the High Court had mistakenly interpreted the law and she was satisfied that an appeals committee has power to conduct a full hearing of an appeal.
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation said the finding raises questions about the department’s legal argument in other cases that it has no role in the day-to-day running of the country’s schools.
Education Minister Mary Coughlan said the state had appealed the High Court ruling to bring legal clarity to parental rights under section 29 of the Education Act.
“The Department of Education has been considering the efficacy of the section 29 process, particularly in relation to how pupil enrolment should be regulated. The ruling will be considered by the department in the context of that work,” she said.
